Tories attacked for prison costs as crime rate plunges

While 59% of residents feel their personal safety isn’t at risk in Toronto, a Forum poll found Etobicoke and Scarborough residents are more likely to agree their personal safety was at risk. (Sun files)

Statistics Canada said the country's crime rate has plunged to its lowest level since 1973, data the opponents of the federal Conservatives pounced on to attack Ottawa for its plans to spend billions on new prisons and other law-and-order initiatives.

Statistics Canada, using data provided by police forces across the country, said there were 2.1 million crimes last year, a drop of 5% from 2009.

Statscan's "Crime Severity Index", which tracks violent crime, also dropped to its lowest level ever since that index was created in 1998.

"Yet we have a Conservative government trying to implement policies based on ill-informed ideas instead of evidence," said Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett.

"Conservatives continue their fear-mongering in hopes of scaring Canadians into accepting severe and ineffective crime legislation. The omnibus crime bill planned for fall will only exacerbate prison costs."

The crime legislation the Conservatives will introduce in the fall would have the effect of increasing Canada's prison population, partly by toughening parole rules and eliminating so-called two-for-one sentencing guidelines.

The government says the cost of its crime package could be about $4 billion, though others, including the Parliamentary Budget Office, believe it could be much higher - possibly around $10 billion.

"Unlike the opposition, we do not use statistics as an excuse not to get tough on criminals," said Pamela Stephens, a spokesperson for Justice

Minister Rob Nicholson. "As far as our government is concerned, one victim of crime is still one too many. Canadians have given this government a strong mandate to tackle crime and protect Canadians. We intend to deliver what Canadians want and to fulfil our promise to stand up for victims and law-abiding Canadians."

Anthony Doob, a criminology professor at the University of Toronto, said criminal justice policies and rates of imprisonment have no effect on crime rates.

Instead, he said the falling crime rate is likely related to social policies, such as keeping kids in school longer, and the fact that Canada's population is getting older.

"If you look at overall crimes rates, they tend in many countries to parallel the proportion of people who are 15 to 30 years old," Doob said.

Statscan said a handful of criminal code offences accounted for the biggest drops in crime, including 23,000 fewer instances of theft under $5,000,

At times, the Conservatives - notably Stockwell Day last year - have argued that "unreported crime" is on the rise.

StatsCan tries to track unreported crime through what it calls a "victimization survey" that it does every five years.

In its most recent victimization survey, released last September, the federal agency said self-reported victimizations were mostly non-violent and that victimization rates were about the same in 2009 as they were in the previous survey in 2004.